Greater Des Moines Unveils Its Vision

At a press conference last Wednesday at Des Moines’ lovely botanical center, regional leaders rolled out their comprehensive Capital Crossroads vision plan, a five-year strategic blueprint to take Central Iowa to even greater levels of success. Yours truly managed the process for Market Street and had the privilege of working on a strategy for the first time in my community of residence. While this proximity and accessibility led to a couple additional “meetings over coffee” than most projects, that wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, it was a wonderful experience being able to meet so many stakeholders with such strong passion for this region. My wife and her friends eventually got tired of being treated like “focus group participants” for eight months.

As Greater Des Moines has continued to show up near the top of one “best place” list after another, the economic development world is starting to take notice of the region. A number of our Midwestern clients now ask to be benchmarked against the Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. If I were to pinpoint an aspect of Des Moines and Central Iowa that has fueled this ascent, I would have to say it’s the quality of the leadership. I was continually impressed by the “big-picture” perspective of the public and private leaders here. Market Street often found its “gospel” of holistic economic and community development being pitched back to us as we moved through the planning process. I learned a lot from the folks in Des Moines about the dynamics of leadership and how it impacts economic development planning. Our principal client contacts in the process – the Greater Des Moines Partnership and Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines – were also exemplars of professionalism and productivity.

Thankfully, the Capital Crossroads plan has been well received. Both the Des Moines Register and Des Moines Business Record  have provided positive coverage of the strategy. This is lucky for me, because if the plan was a bust I have nowhere to hide. There’s nothing worse than seeing one of your Steering Committee chairs in Caribou Coffee and having to dive under a table to hide. Or having to go to an Iowa Cubs game in full disguise. I also look forward to a front-row seat to see the Crossroads plan implemented. A regrettable aspect of Market Street’s line of work is that we don’t often get to see our client communities put a plan into action first hand. So Capital Crossroads will definitely be the gift that keeps on giving for me. Every few blogs or so, I’ll try to unwrap it and share some details and perspectives on how things are going. Stay tuned.

Inside the Box

By Ellen Cutter, Director of Research.

My co-worker, Evan Robertson, blogged recently about the food truck movement and its ability to instantly, albeit temporarily, bring economic activity and life to otherwise underused urban areas. Last week, I read about a similar concept being tested in the retail industry. Unlike the delicious food truck movement, it seems pretty unsatisfying. 

Inc Magazine asks the question “Is This the Future of Retail” of SHOPBOX, a temporary shopping exhibit of sorts currently located in Brooklyn’s DeKalb Market. SHOPBOX is a sealed steel shipping container with glass windows which rotates an array of American-made hipster knickknacks, bags and hats, and home goods --similar to a sandwich vending machine, except that goods are ordered via text message. And, just like buying egg salad from a machine, I am dubious. 

I will admit, in Brooklyn where space is a premium and rents are high, this concept is interesting. SHOPBOX is relatively portable and small, giving its retailers high flexibility and low overhead. One issue, which I can’t wrap my head around, is why customers would make a trip to SHOPBOX to stare at a product they could just as easily stare at online. Most people make the trip to the store because they want cash and carry service, or at least to hold, manipulate, or try on the good they are shopping for before they buy it online. So the answer here, I think, is that SHOPBOX must be positioned in places which are walkable and allow the broad consumer spontaneity of window shopping. In this regard, SHOPBOX seems like a novelty that probably would not find much success outside of a few dozen hyper-urban neighborhoods across the country. And, that is fine. 

But, I have to admit that I find a few things about the SHOPBOX concept very sad. (1) There is no human interaction. (2) It doesn’t bring jobs to the neighborhoods it serves. (3) It’s trying to make parking lots “significant.” Bottom line: you can put something there temporarily, but parking lots are not what bring people together. SHOPBOX is an interesting as a business concept, but as a community builder, this is a miss in my book.

My Old Kentucky Home…for a week, that is

By: Jonathan Miller, Project Associate

I spent last week in Kentucky, attending the Kentucky Basic Economic Development Course in Lexington. Lexington is not a large city, but it is home to the University of Kentucky, which if you ask any Wildcat, shames other great Southern cities such as Atlanta and Nashville. More importantly, Rupp Arena is in Lexington. While it is clear Kentucky football is a sport best enjoyed from a bandwagon, basketball has the power to make or break the quality of a weekend.

One of the themes that became apparent during my week in Kentucky was the importance of return on investment (ROI). The ability to do more with less is becoming a hallmark of successful community economic development organizations and chambers of commerce. Further, communities are being tasked with justifying their activities to stakeholders and investors. 

One of the difficult areas to show ROI is on time spent developing an online presence. Many sites such as Twitter and Facebook are often dismissed as non-relevant or mildly effective for economic development. The following tools, which were presented in a session on community websites, can help chambers and economic development organizations justify, optimize, and show the impact of their online activity.

Analytics Tools…Benchmarks for your time online

Twittercounter.com: tracks daily tweets, followers, and replies. The output, “Twitter statistics”, can be aggregated into monthly, 3 month, and 6 month intervals, allowing benchmarking and implementation of metrics.

Klout.com: in addition to tweets, Klout.com tracks posts and activity on LinkedIn, Facebook, and FourSquare. Based on 1) how many people you influence 2) how your message is amplified and 3) the influence of the people you reach, the website creates a score that measures your influence. 

Search Engine Optimization…make Google work for you
Key Word Density: The most common search for economic development is “state name” or “community name” followed by “economic development.” Having these words in the opening text on a website will increase the likelihood that a page is filtered to the top of search results. 

* Trafficzap.com: this tool allows users to see how their websites ranks when certain key words are used in search engines.

Websitegrader.com: this site analyzes how many other websites have links to yours, giving an idea of the how your message is being spread. This tool also analyzes site traffic, social media, site optimization, and blog hits.

Searenginewatch.com: this site provides the latest news and information on search engines, search engine optimization, and analytics.

Netmechanic.com: this site analyzes a website for broken links, misspellings, and web site speed.

Google Place Page: a free listing tool from Google that can be customized with photos, reviews, and links to important websites. A Place Page is an easy way to filter up in search results, especially since Google likes to take care of their own. 

Marketing Tools…Repurposing web staples

Flickr: a free online photo sharing site can be used to create low-cost site inventories. With the ability to house many pictures of available sites and buildings, the site can also accommodate location data, building or site specs, and infrastructure information. A complementary tool, iMapFlickr, allows Flickr users to create Google maps, which show the location of the site or building on an interactive map.

Bit.ly: The site bit.ly allows users to produce shorter and more compact URLs for their websites. However, the real value-add is that bit.ly tracks website activity, such as clicks and views, in real time. Bit.ly is also the producer of QR codes (see the code for our blog below), which provides smartphone users an easy way to access website information. Using a free QR reader app, smartphone users can take a picture of the code and then are directed to the content or website contained in the code. Not only do these codes look better than a URL, they are more compact and don’t require remembering a lengthy web address.


These sites can be useful tools to purposefully leveraging and showing the impact of establishing an online presence. While I had never been to Kentucky prior to the Basic Economic Development Course, I can truly say that I spent a week with a group of professionals (see below) who are committed to making their communities better.

Striving Against the Persistence of Segregation

By Ranada Robinson, Senior Research Associate.

When my parents were growing up in Jackson, MS, they lived in the era of Jim Crow, where across the South the law mandated racial segregation. The set of laws was said to be intended to keep African Americans “separate but equal,” but while people like my grandparents and parents were separated from whites, they were not treated equally, suffering through yet thriving despite many educational, economic, and social disadvantages. Fast forward to today—in an age where we’ve elected our first African American president, where the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial (the first memorial for an African American on or near the National Mall) has been constructed, and where many other achievements have been made by African Americans—how far have we come as a nation?

In March 2011, John Logan of Brown University and Brian Stults of Florida State University, representing the US2010 Project, published The Persistence of Segregation in the Metropolis: New Findings from the 2010 Census. The report uses census tract-level data to examine how historic patterns of segregation are changing. Among the findings are that racial segregation has been declining slowly but steadily since 1980. While this blog post won’t delve into neighborhood diversity, the report found that minorities (specifically African American, Hispanic, and Asian) have not often gained access to primarily white neighborhoods.

The following table lists the 20 metro areas with the largest black populations in 2010 with the highest levels of black-white segregation. A score greater than 60 is deemed very high—this means that 60% of either racial group has to move to different census tracts in order for the metro area to be equally racially dispersed.



My hometown of Jackson ranks 31st, with a score of 55.8, down from 68.6 in 1980, 62.4 in 1990, and 57.4 in 2000. Atlanta, home of Market Street, ranks 24th, with a score of 58.3, down from 76.9 in 1980, 66.3 in 1990, and 63.9 in 2000

So why does this matter? What does this have to do with economic development? As Mac Holladay, our CEO, and Ellen Cutter, our Director of Research said in their article entitled “How Diversity Fosters Economic Success” featured in ACCE Magazine, “As our communities reflect the growing diversity of the workforce, we cannot afford to leave any group behind.”

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency, which tracks business growth by a variety of ethnic groups and gender, 21.3 percent of all firms in the nation in 2007, or 5.8 million, were minority-owned. These firms earned gross receipts of $1 trillion, only a fraction of the $30 trillion nationwide. Nearly 2 million firms were African American-owned, earning $137.5 billion in 2007. In 2009, minorities had purchasing power of $2.46 trillion, and African Americans alone had buying power of $910.4 billion, larger than the estimated buying power of all but 16 countries worldwide. Between 2002 and 2007, African American-owned firms outpaced the growth of non-minority firms in gross receipts (55%, African American growth vs. 21% non-minority growth), number of firms (61% vs. 9%), and employment (22% vs. 0.03%). Between 2002 and 2007, African American-owned firms created over 921,000 jobs. 

Research has shown that there are still disparities in opportunities available for minority-owned businesses, especially higher cost of capital which presents an additional burden. Minority-owned businesses have an impact on the entire economy, and they have the potential to make greater waves with greater opportunity. Thus, it is imperative for communities to understand the value in ensuring that minority-owned businesses are reached and supported—that good ideas are fostered no matter who the idea belongs to. We’ve come a long way as a country without a doubt, and we still have a ways to go. Communities are stronger when they embrace the diversity within, being mindful that each of us contribute to the overall prosperity of us all. As Aristotle said, “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.”

How to Revitalize a Street Corner in Under an Hour

By Evan Robertson, Project Associate. 

I’m standing at the corner of Tenth and Peachtree Street in a small empty lot next to a seemingly abandoned restaurant cleverly named Tenth and Thai. For those of you familiar with Atlanta, you’ll know that this particular corner is usually a dead zone. This is a corner you walk past to get to somewhere else. Today, the weather in Atlanta is particularly pleasant. The air is about 85 degrees and there is a slight wind that carries the scent of autumn. It’s lunch time and there are a million things to do back at the office. I push everything that is on my mind aside to concentrate on the task at hand. As I am standing at this corner, there are only two things that are plaguing my mind at the moment: 1) How did this street corner, normally desolate, become an economically vibrant area and 2) Do I want the Lime Fries? 

You’re probably interested by the first question, so I’ll start with that. The answer is quite simple: every Thursday during lunch street food vendors park their trucks and pushcarts in the empty spaces around this corner. This is no small miracle. Both regulations at the city and state level are particularly arcane where street food vending is concerned. For instance, street vendors are barred from selling goods for more than 30 minutes on a public right of way in the city while the state mandates that permitted street food vendors can only sell at one or two locations. Luckily, the aspiring entrepreneurs at Tex’s Tacos as well as their street food brethren have made headway in reforming these restrictions. In doing so, I stand witness to a momentary economic revitalization of an underutilized street corner. The corner is buzzing with people; the line at Tex’s truck is about twenty people deep with more people on the way. Everyone is chattering, solving problems at the office, sharing ideas, and discussing life’s more mundane details. This is perhaps the important unintended consequence of the Atlanta food truck movement: it brings people together. The sharing of ideas, conversation, is the cornerstone of the innovation-led economy. At some point during the creation of every new product, business plan, or idea is an impromptu meeting space be it a pub, coffee shop, or restaurant. Now, thanks to the Atlanta Street Food Coalition, we can add street corners to the list. The presence of the food vendors just goes to show what an informed approach to regulating street food vending can do and illuminates the possible unintended consequences of our decisions. And for the Tex’s lime fries, they transformed the way I think about the French Fry. 

To Learn More About Atlanta’s Street Food Movement: 

• http://www.atlantastreetfood.com/

• http://www.scribd.com/doc/37485115/Atlanta-Street-Food-Feasibility-Study

It's not actually 100 degrees everywhere... Highlights from the SEDC conference in Asheville, NC

By Kathy Young, Director of Operations.

This week I attended the Southern Economic Development Council's annual conference in lovely - and not sweltering -  Asheville, North Carolina. The historic Grove Park Inn was the perfect setting for the many opportunities to catch up with clients and old friends, and to make new friends (and sometimes be so engaged by the speakers that the ever present Blackberry was neglected and shunned). Some of our more recent clients in attendance included the Tulsa Chamber, the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber, Upstate Alliance, New Carolina, and the Jones County (MS) Economic Development Authority.

During the conference, alongside approximately 400 economic developers, I sat in on a variety of sessions and panels, many of which featured excellent speakers who brought forth new information or framed some of today's economic and demographic trends in new ways. 

One conference highlight included seeing one of our clients, Becca Hardin, Vice President of Economic Development at the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce speak to the bi-state regional efforts she and her team lead. Of the many relevant insights Becca shared about recent experiences, one in particular stood out. In the wake of job losses resulting from Cessna closing its Columbus facility during the height of the recession, the Chamber worked with a laser focus on retaining the 65 jobs at McCauley Propeller Systems, a division of Cessna. Since that success, which Hardin observed was a critical morale boost for the community as much as an economic win, McCauley has announced an additional expansion. Another great example of the importance of retaining and growing existing businesses, and how critical it is to have an established relationship before a crisis ever arises.

Additionally, two of the more illuminating sessions were moderated by Ted Abernathy, Executive Director of the Southern Growth Policies Board; the first session provided a national perspective and the second one featured three panelists that spoke to regional issues and dynamics.

A few takeaways from those two panels... In response to two questions about being a hypothetical "innovation czar" and offering advice for the federal government to help with long term job creation, panelists had this to say:

Innovation

• Focus on driving foreign direct investment as much we support export activities. William Bates, Chief of Staff for the Council on Competitiveness
• Map your resources and assets as a regional community, with a specific focus on federal government financial support and resources used - "coordinate the knowledge." Gardner A. Carrick, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Manufacturing Institute
• Staple a green card to every STEM student that we're spending U.S. education and training resources on to keep them here instead of sending them back to their home countries to start businesses. Stephen Fleming, Vice President, Georgia Tech's Enterprise Innovation Institute

Advice for the federal government:

• Make a bigger deal about science fair winners than professional athletes. Invite students to the White House to celebrate and take it on the road - show kids throughout the country that's where the jobs are. (Bates)
• Waive all taxes and regulations for the first year of a start-up company's life. (Carrick)
• Or, double thresholds for regulations and requirements for start-ups, to give new companies easier freedom to grow. (Fleming)

Another pleasantly surprising highlight came during a session that featured John Hernandez, Assistant Secretary for Economic Development with the U.S. Department of Commerce and Jane Oates, Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training with the U.S. Department of Labor. The session was a true dialogue, and when gently chastised by an audience member about the burden of applications and reporting requirements, Oates pledged to use the conference to connect the regional DOL representative with grant recipients to begin the process of identifying potential changes to the system, to the point that we all knew who her colleague was, where she was sitting, and that she would start taking suggestions immediately following the session. Oates ended by saying "We believe that if we say we're going to work on it, then we should actually work on it!" On my to-do list...see if that follow-up truly happened...let's hope so!

Road Building Hits a Speed Bump

By Alex Pearlstein, Director of Projects. 

Along with a handful of Market Street co-workers and a whole gaggle of chamber professionals from across the country, I attended the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) annual conference in Los Angeles last week. LA is my home town, so I got to see family as well; an added benefit and a pleasure to have some more relaxing moments after a couple days of information filled workshops and forums.

One of the sessions that caught my eye was a panel on the future of infrastructure spending and development – principally of the road, highway and transit variety. The panelists included an expert from the Brookings Institution and public policy staff from the Greater Des Moines Partnership and Business Council of Fairfield County (Connecticut). The session was a sobering reminder that we can barely afford to maintain our transportation infrastructure, not to mention build new capacity.

The problem is that the U.S. Congress eliminated so-called “earmarks” from future budgets. Considered a dirty word by many experts opposed to profligate federal spending, earmarks nevertheless were a critical and effective way for communities to fund local infrastructure projects. Hence the annual pilgrimage of local and regional stakeholders to Washington, D.C. to lobby their members of Congress for infrastructure appropriations. With earmarks eliminated, some economic development organizations may not even need to take their D.C. “fly-ins” anymore. The new funding paradigm is entirely formula-based and “de-politicized.” The key takeaways from panelists were that localities and regions will need to be much more creative, aggressive, and self-sustaining in order to maintain, enhance, and construct roads, highways, and transit.

The “new normal” in D.C. means that cities, counties, and regions must:

• Change their approaches to funding new projects.
• Identify and aggressively pursue federal grant opportunities.
• Perhaps change their focus from lobbying U.S. congressmen to working more closely with state and regional officials at DOTs and MPOs.
• Capture opportunities to leverage special purpose local option sales taxes to fill transportation-funding coffers. Georgia’s version (the tongue-twisting acronym” SPLOST”) has funded billions in regional transportation infrastructure. The panelist from Connecticut lamented that his state doesn’t even have enabling legislation to hold a local transportation tax vote!
• Consider public-private partnerships and lease-back agreements with for-profit developers.
• And many more!

The tightening of the federal transportation spigot is the latest sign that communities cannot look solely to their statehouse or the U.S. government to slake their thirst for growth-supportive infrastructure financing. Like so many other projects that boost local competitiveness – new arenas, bike paths, riverwalks, arts and culture projects, new parks, etc., etc. – local governments will have to rely on the philanthropy of their private sectors, foundations, philanthropists, institutions, and the willingness of voters to tax themselves to increase their supply of new, cool stuff. Some places have been very successful at this tactic, even before state and federal budget meltdowns. Others will have to get with the program or else risk getting passed on the (ALERT: cheesy metaphor approaching!) “superhighway to success.”